


i can feel the heat from across the room

by unbrokengibberish



Series: these lonely woods ain't so lonely [3]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, M/M, rural au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4978606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbrokengibberish/pseuds/unbrokengibberish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey hated everything about Ian’s disorder, hated that Ian had to deal with it in the first place, but Ian not wanting to be touched was one of the worst things, one of the things that felt the most off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i can feel the heat from across the room

**Author's Note:**

> so as you can tell this is a very nonlinear series. this takes place after the first two. there will be one more part after this.

The house was freezing when Mickey stepped over the threshold, the inside temperature resembling that of the wintery scene outside. He glanced over at the stove, noticing that the fire wasn’t roaring, just a few embers burning low. It must be bad this time. 

He walked up the stairs, without waiting for someone to notice him, knowing that they would all be too busy. Fiona’s messy, dark hair greeted him at the entryway to Ian’s room. She was leaning against the doorframe, not moving, just looking. A floorboard creaked under his foot as he took a step forward and her head whipped around to look at him, flyaway hairs framing her face. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, quietly walking closer. Peering around her, he saw the lump that was Ian lying in his bed, blankets pulled up to his neck, facing the opposite wall. “How is he?” Mickey whispered, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. 

“I think the meds stopped working,” Fiona spoke softly, turning her head so that the words echoed toward Mickey and not further into the room. 

“Shit, you serious?” he asked, shooting an anxious glance toward Ian. 

“He hasn’t moved in two days. I brought him some toast and he ate a bite before he collapsed back down and he’s basically looked like that since yesterday morning,” she said, gesturing to Ian’s unmoving position. 

“Fuck,” Mickey muttered, running his hand over his eyes and down his face. They had finally gotten the right combination of meds, had a few months of something that resembled normal, and now this. He knew it came with the territory, but he hated that Ian had to go through this. He hated seeing him like this. 

Fiona sighed next to him and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in two days or more. 

“I got this,” Mickey said, nodding toward Ian. “You should go get some sleep or put some wood in the stove. ‘S fucking freezing in here.” He tried to smile but it failed on the two of them. She nodded, squeezing the top of his arm in thanks, before turning around and exiting the room. 

Mickey made his way further into the room. He stepped over to Ian’s bed. 

“Ian?” he asked, softly, not wanting to wake him. Ian’s body shifted a fraction of an inch and a small noise escaped his throat, but nothing else. “You mind if I stay here?” Mickey asked, no answer coming back to him. 

He sighed, toeing off his shoes, and climbed into the space between Ian and the wall, staying toward the end of the bed, making sure not to touch Ian. He leaned back against the wall, watching Ian as he stared at the wall in front of him. His heart ached to help the boy lying in front of him but he didn’t know what to do. Ian had already snapped at him a few months ago to stop nursing him, so Mickey had tried to back off. But he hated this more than anything in his life. He could deal with fucking Terry and what the fuck ever else the world needed to throw at him, but he couldn’t handle Ian hurt. Ian, his Ian. The boy that’d been there since he could remember. The boy that he’d loved since he could remember. The boy who’d been so patient and gentle with him as they navigated their way through this relationship. This boy that he was going to move to the city with. His boy. His strong boy who looked so fragile as he laid in bed shaking. 

Mickey pulled another blanket from the floor, gently over Ian, and laid back against the wall, shivering a bit from where the cold air seeped through the window next to him.

He must have dozed off, because the touch of a cold hand on his arm jolted him awake. 

“Mick,” Ian mumbled, looking at him. 

“Hey,” Mickey soothed, his hand covering Ian’s on his arm. “How you feeling?” 

Ian shook his head, not answering beyond that. He shifted backward on the bed and patted the empty space next to him. Mickey hated everything about Ian’s disorder, hated that Ian had to deal with it in the first place, but Ian not wanting to be touched was one of the worst things, one of the things that felt the most off. He loved when Ian welcomed him back in. 

Mickey crawled under the covers, laying down next to Ian, facing him, and draping an arm over Ian’s side. He pulled the covers up over the both of them, their body heat making it bearable in the room. 

“I’ll drive ya into the doctor’s tomorrow?” Mickey asked, quietly into the space between them. 

“I love you,” Ian mumbled, shifting on the bed and burying his face into Mickey’s neck. Mickey’s breath caught and he brought his hand up to card through Ian’s hair. 

“I love you too,” Mickey replied, kissing the top of Ian’s head and thanking the universe for this one moment in time. He shifted closer to Ian, tangling their legs together under the covers, heart studdering when Ian shifted even closer. 

“Where you been?” Ian asked, and Mickey felt his heart drop. 

“Dad needed someone to go on a run with him. I was the only one around. I got here as soon as I could,” Mickey replied, drawing lazy circles on Ian’s side with his fingers. 

Ian nodded against Mickey, not saying anything else about it. 

“What else I miss?” Ian asked into Mickey’s neck. 

“First snowfall,” Mickey murmured. 

“Fuck, really?” Ian asked, eyes brighter as he pulled away from Mickey’s neck to look at Mickey’s face. 

“Mmhmm, that’s why it’s so fucking cold in this shack,” Mickey replied, teasingly. 

“Mmhmm, it’s pretty warm here,” Ian said, burrowing further into Mickey, and wrapping his long arms around Mickey’s back. Mickey mimicked him and wrapped Ian in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry.” 

“Hey, none of that shit,” Mickey repeated the thing he’d been saying for months. “We’re gonna figure this out. This isn’t bigger than us, Ian. We just gotta give it time.” 

Ian squeezed him tighter and he held onto Ian with all his life. Ian was all his life. 

“When we move to the city, it’ll be easier. Doc won’t be so fucking far away,” Mickey said, trying to keep the smile off his face. 

Ian once again glanced up at Mickey, a curious look on his face. 

“When we move?” 

“I found this shitty as fuck apartment in a terrible neighborhood that we can afford if we scrape all our money together and cut down on beer and cigarettes.” 

“Mick…” 

“It’s all ready. I even got a job lined up with some mechanic. Pretty sure it’s some sketch job, but it will do. You just gotta get your dumbass to graduate and then we’re out of here.” 

Ian’s eyes were so wide, Mickey couldn’t help but laugh. His laugh was cut short by Ian’s mouth crashing into his own. The kiss was chaste, just a pressing of lips together, but it was perfect. 

When they pulled away from each other, Ian had a small smile on his lips. Mickey’d never seen anything so beautiful. 

“So you like that idea?” 

“I love it, Mick. I love you so much. You’re too good to me,” Ian said, voice going quiet at the end. 

“We take care of each other.” 

Ian buried his face back into Mickey’s neck and drifted off to sleep after a few moments. Mickey glanced around the old, dirty house that he’d spent so much of his own childhood in. He didn’t know how he’d make it in the city, but if Ian was with him, he thought he could do anything.


End file.
